New Chief Executive for the Medical Research Council
28 September 2007
Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, John Denham, today announced the appointment of Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, FRCP FRCPath FMedSci, as Chief Executive and Deputy Chair of the Medical Research Council (MRC).
Announcing the appointment John Denham said:
"I welcome Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz to the Medical Research Council. Sir Leszek’s medical and academic background and his management experience, will be a great asset to the Council. He is the ideal person to take the helm at the MRC and nurture biomedical research in the UK."
Sir Leszek is deputy rector of Imperial College London and currently joint chairman of the MRC/UK Stem Cell Foundation Scientific Advisory Board. Of his appointment, he said:
“I’m very excited and proud to have been chosen to lead the Medical Research Council. MRC scientists have been responsible for many of the groundbreaking discoveries that have revolutionised medicine and improved lives not just in the UK but around the world. I am determined to continue the MRC’s tradition of research excellence and I look forward to ensuring support for the very best research at its roots in basic science but also through to its application in the clinic.“
The MRC funds the highest quality research and related postgraduate training in the medical and health sciences. In this financial year it is receiving around £500 million from the Science Budget. Its current priorities include clinical and public health research, infections and vaccine research, global health, biomarkers regenerative medicine, systems and integrative biology, brain sciences and ageing.
The MRC’s Chairman Sir John Chisholm added: “Sir Leszek is the perfect person to lead the MRC in the new environment of coordinated health research in the UK. I am delighted he’ll join us - his stature as a scientist and clinician reflects the importance of the role the MRC will play in a coordinated strategy for turning research findings into healthcare.”
Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz will take up the post on 1 October. He succeeds Professor Colin Blakemore. The appointment is for four years.
Notes for Editors
1. Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz’s appointment has been made following an open competition.
2. Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz is Deputy Rector at Imperial College London, having joined the College in 2001 as Principal of the Faculty of Medicine. Previously he was Professor of Medicine and Head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Wales, Cardiff. In his current role at Imperial, Sir Leszek has been responsible for the overall academic and scientific direction of the College, particularly the development of inter-disciplinary research between engineering, physical sciences and biomedicine. As a physician Sir Leszek specialises in viral immunology, infectious diseases, cell mediated immunity, virus associated malignancy and vaccine development. He is the author of reports for the World Health Organization, the Medical Research Council and the Department of Health. He has also chaired the Department of Health research advisory committee collating research on Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. He was knighted in the 2001 New Year's Honours List for his research into developing vaccines, including a vaccine to prevent the development of cervical cancer. Sir Leszek was a founding fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1996. He is Chairman of HEFCE’s main Clinical Medicine panel for RAE 2008. He was a member of the Council of Cancer Research UK from 2002 to 2005 and a governor of the Wellcome Trust from 2006 to 2007. Sir Leszek was a member of the MRC Council from 1995 to 2000 and chair of the MRC’s Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board from 1996 to 2000.
3. The Medical Research Council funds excellent science with the aim of improving human health. Its work ranges from science at the molecular level to public health research carried out in universities, hospitals and a network of units and institutes. The MRC works closely with the Health Departments, the National Health Service and industry to take account of the public’s needs. The results have led to some of the most significant discoveries in medical science and benefited millions of people in the UK and around the world.